The studies on promoting forest carbon sequestration to meet Paris climate agreement targets

Abstract

The new emission standards from the Paris agreement presented us with many challenges. Since the role of developing countries in responding to climate change is becoming more significant, Korea, which has not been obliged to reduce climate change so far, should prepare groundbreaking carbon reduction strategies. In addition, we need to strengthen international cooperation to arrive at global solutions to climate change, since carbon emission will induce climate change regardless of which countries emit it. With this background, KREI in Korea and CATIE in Costa Rica performed joint research to seek effective forest action to mitigate and adapt to climate change. Forests make up the largest terrestrial carbon reservoir, sequestrating 30% of annual global anthropogenic CO2. Because two countries have abundant forest resources, it would be expected that responding to climate change using forest resources could be an optimal strategy for both countries.